A look at life in Lancaster from an innkeeper and artist in residence.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

"I'm Not Catchin' A Cold This Winter" Soup

It's winter. Here in Pennsylvania the news is filled each day with folks dying from the flu, battling colds, getting sick. It's enough to make you a bit leery about heading out in public.

So I set out to create something to arm us with enough vitamins, antioxidants and chicken stock to survive the onslaught of germs that might come our way.

Here's the solution:

Melt two tablespoons butter in a large soup pot.

Add 3 large carrots, 2 stalks celery (both coarsely chopped) and 1/2 cup of Hard Winter Wheatberries. Add a good couple shakes of salt, pepper and marjoram. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Don't let it get lonely - stir it every once in a while.

Add two cups of water and 1 large mild onion - coarsely chopped.

It should look like this:

Let that simmer for about 20 minutes. Coarsely chop a turnip and add it to the pot.

Add 6 cups of chicken stock. Now it should look like this:

Let that cook, covered for another 10 minutes.

Cut the ribs off of 3 leaves of kale. Chop the kale.

Add another two cups of low sodium chicken stock to the pot (I like the powdered one sold at Shady Maple Farm Market). You can add as much as you like - we tend to like our soups on the chunky side. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Let the whole pot cook a good half hour, stirring occasionally. Then take a seat and enjoy the soup, arming your body with the necessary nutrients to fight off any germ coming your way.

The Artist's Inn

About Me

I've had all kinds of jobs -from working for a perfume company to a daily newspaper, but my favorite role in life (so far) is my dream come true - running an inn, and meeting all sorts of wonderful people from around the world.